Aluminum Model Toys
Aluminum Metal Toys (AMT) was the original producer of ''Star Trek'' model kits, acquiring the license in shortly after the premiere of the original series. The deal was brokered between Gene Roddenberry and Stephen Edward Poe, an employee of an advertisement firm who at the time was hired as a consultant by AMT for marketing and communications purposes. Michigan based AMT started out in 1948 as a manufacturer of model cars and trucks, both as model kits and display pieces for marketing purposes, model kits becoming the core business during the mid-sixties. The Star Trek model kits from 1966 onwards, became the first branching out of the product line beyond automobiles. AMT ended its existence as an independent company in 1977 when it was acquired by , owner of , and in 1981 by die cast toy and model kit manufacturer resulting in the brand AMT/Ertl. A quarter of a century as AMT/Ertl came to an end in as the company was acquired by Racing Champions ( or RC2 Corporation as it is currently called}, a larger die-cast company which also bought Playing Mantis, the parent company of Polar Lights, Johnny Lightning and Memory Lane. The combined company was known as Racing Champions/ERTL. Re-releases of several AMT/Ertl kits, though the company by that time was already split up in its two original components, were soon announced. However, in 2007, AMT changed hands yet again, this time acquired by Round 2 LLC under whose combined imprint AMT started the run of re-releases in 2008. ''Star Trek'' association AMT was given the rights in 1966 to produce models based on the show in exchange for helping out CBS Studios with the construction of set pieces when needed. Stephen Poe was instrumental in brokering the deal, who was also was given free access to the studio lot which eventually resulted in the book The Making of Star Trek. Through their subsidiary at the time, Custom & Speed Shop, headed by Gene Winfield, AMT was called upon to construct the studio model of the Galileo Class F shuttlecraft as well as the full scale exterior mock-up. Also produced at the Speedshop was the studio model of the Klingon , which originated from the desire of AMT to do a follow-up of the very successful model kit. Specifically designed for AMT by Matt Jefferies, it was immediately appropriated by the studio (struggling at the time with severe budget cuts) for use as filming model in the third season of Star Trek: The Original Series, betraying its origin as a master for a model kit by not having internal lighting. The company further released versions of Romulan Bird-of-Prey, a model of Spock, the Galileo shuttlecraft, a standard exploration set (communicator, phaser, and tricorder), the bridge, and Deep Space Station K-7, even after the series was canceled in . The company retained the license through the 1970s, and, at the time owned by Matchbox (1977-1981), eventually produced kits for . In , the company merged with Ertl, and began expanding their Star Trek line with kits based on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine models followed in the 1990s, as well as more ships from the subsequent eight motion pictures. The company did not acquire the license for Star Trek: Voyager, which went to Revell-Monogram. The last new kits were released by . Shortly following, the company ceased production on its Trek line, the last re-releases issued in 2005. In 2008, after been acquired by Round 2 LLC, AMT restarted the Star Trek line with a commemorative edition of its very first Enterprise model kit under its new brand name "AMT/Round2". ''Star Trek'' releases Trivia * The as seen in is an AMT model kit, nr. S921, appropriately battle-damaged. The ship was given the registry NCC-1017, mostly because it was simple to rearrange the model's decal sheet and was the first time the reciprocal arrangement between AMT and the studio pannend out in one of AMT's model kits showing up on screen. * The as seen in was another AMT kit, seen in Lurry's office window and orbiting the far side of Deep Space Station K-7. * The AMT model of the original Enterprise was released many times over nearly thirty years. One of these models was built by future producer Ronald D. Moore when he was young. It ended up as a set decoration in James T. Kirk's crew quarters during . * AMT/Ertl models often appeared as set dressings during the first few seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation, including the ''Enterprise''-A and an appraisal prototype of the itself. * Rick Sternbach and Andrew Probert created the NCC-7100 study model from two Enterprise-A kits and various other parts. * AMT/Ertl models were used for several "kitbashed" starships from TNG and DS9. Parts from the Enterprise-D models were incorporated into the wrecked ships seen in and the study model seen in and . Many background ships seen during the Dominion War saga used parts from AMT/Ertl and Revell-Monogram model kits, specifically the Enterprise-A, the , the , the runabout, the Maquis raider and the most notably in the episode . * Some of the gold models in the display case in the conference lounge were gold plated, resin-reinforced AMT/Ertl models, built by John Eaves. * A medical device used by Julian Bashir in was a warp nacelle from the Romulan warbird model kit. Coincidentally, the Romulans were the main adversaries in the episode. * Though already having merged with AMT, who held the Star Trek license, Ertl released a small toy line based on in 1984, consisting of 4 plastic action figures and three diecast ship models (two of which was re-released in 1989), under its own brand name only. *In 1974 AMT included a Interplanetary U.F.O. Mystery Ship into the Star Trek line, thereby suggesting that the design was part of the Star Trek universe, though it was not, its combined advertising on the box sides, pamphlets and catalogues of the time notwithstanding. It did have however, had some behind-the-scenes connections. First off, the U.F.O. Mystery Ship was originally designed as the Leif Ericson by Matt Jefferies for an abandoned Sci-Fi project named, "Strategic Space Command."http://www.projectrho.com/SSC/model.html#merrillblueprints. AMT's idea behind the project was, buoyed by the success of their first Star Trek model kits, to release a series of Sci-Fi kits accompanied by a worked-out "mini" background story and eventually create a Strategic Space Command universe, beefed out with an accompanying line of model kits http://frank.bol.ucla.edu/lestory.htm. AMT hired Jefferies of USS Enterprise fame, to design the Leif Ericson, with the forward bridge module having more than a passing resemblance of the conning tower of the SS Botany Bay, and eventually released it in 1968 as model kit S954. Secondly, according to Michael Okuda the design, being a Jefferies design, was seriously considered to be part of the Star Trek universe, though that never came to fruition. The original kit was considered a commercial failure and the project fell apart. In a ploy to recuperate their investments, AMT re-released the model kit twice, now designated Interplanetary U.F.O. Mystery Ship, molded in fluorescent plastic (to achieve a glowing-in-the-dark effect), and was trying to marry the ship into the Star Trek franchise through combined advertising, though it would never appear there. The re-releases were timed to coincide with the airing of the Star Trek: The Animated Series, where the design was briefly considered to make an appearance, already showing up in several preliminary story boards http://www.war-ofthe-worlds.co.uk/leif_ericson_model.htmhttp://frank.bol.ucla.edu/le.html. Still, AMT's latest owner, Round 2 LLC, opted to re-release the 1975-issue in 2009 as a retro edition. See also * Polar Lights External links * ErtlToys.com - official web site * [http://www.ertltoys.com/brand/amt/2005/pm star trek.shtml Current AMT/Ertl Star Trek lineup] * * Category:Collectibles Category:Game companies